The Disconnect That's Costing You Clients (Episode 002)
In this conversation, I break down one of the most common (and costly) mistakes therapists make in their marketing: speaking from Point Z—the place of transformation—rather than meeting clients where they are at Point A.
I walk you through how this disconnect shows up, why it happens (hint: it's not your fault), and how to realign your messaging so it resonates with the clients you actually want to attract.
You’ll walk away with a clear reframe and a practical next step to make sure your marketing is not just accurate, but truly effective.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
1️⃣ Why your clients aren’t recognizing themselves in your marketing—and how to fix that disconnect
2️⃣ The surprising way clinical accuracy can backfire in your copy
3️⃣ A simple exercise to re-anchor your messaging in what your clients already know and feel
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Hello, hello. Welcome to Marketing Therapy episode two where we are exploring one of the disconnects that I see so many therapists not realize they're creating, and ultimately the clients it costs them. This is a big one. So let's set the stage here. You have a solid niche, you know who you love working with.
You're not trying to be all things to all people anymore. You've realized I am the right therapist for the right kind of client. So you've gotten clear, you've gotten more focused. You've gotten more intentional. Okay, that's where we're at right now. So the big question, why aren't the inquiries coming in?
Or if they are, why do so many of them still feel off? That is what we're gonna talk about today.
Because sometimes it's not your niche that's the problem. It's the disconnect between where your clients are and where you are marketing from. In this episode, we're gonna dive into this really common mistake that I see even seasoned, thoughtful strategic therapists make in their marketing and what to do instead.
We're gonna talk about the journey your client goes on, what this disconnect actually looks like. I'm gonna give you some examples why this happens and why it's not your fault, what your clients are really actually listening for, and of course how to actually change this. Okay? I'm gonna give you a few simple changes to make your niche and your marketing actually land with those clients you love to work with.
Alright, let's get into it. So here's what I want you to remember as we dive in.
Every single client goes on a journey when they work with you, okay? They start at point A. Imagine a big, long spectrum, okay? On one end is point A. This is the moment that they realize something's wrong, I've got to do something. It might be that they're feeling overwhelmed, they're stuck in a pattern that they can't quite put words to.
They're disconnected from their partner. They had a big blow up. They're maybe just exhausted by their own brain and living in their body. That is the moment they reach out. That is where they begin point A, and then over time, imagine that that client moving along that journey through the work you do together, they start making sense of things.
Right. Isn't this one of the coolest parts of working with your clients? They start to gain insight. They start to connect the dots. They have those light bulb moments and breakthroughs. They build skills, they heal, they grow, they change, and eventually they'll likely move on from therapy, whether that's six months from now or years and years from now with a brand new level of clarity that is point Z.
Okay, so your client came in at point A and then they traveled along that journey with your help to point Z. But here's the problem. I see so often therapists are writing their websites, their directory profiles, their social media captions, whatever they're doing to market themselves from point Z.
They're leading with the ultimate transformation with the diagnosis. They're leading with the big insight. They know their clients are going to reach eventually, and this is a good thing. It's good to talk about that. But when a potential client is still sitting at point A, they don't recognize themselves in that yet, they're not ready for it.
And when someone doesn't feel seen, we know this. They bounce, they click out and they look elsewhere. So let's look at how this actually shows up in your marketing. Because if you're anything like the thousands of therapists that I've worked with, it's not necessarily an issue of you being vague. You know who you work with, you know the work you do well, and you're not writing fluff.
You're actually doing the opposite. You're trying to be very, very accurate. You're naming the real clinical dynamic that's at play here. You're talking about the root cause of the issue. And ultimately this is because you're sharing the work that you know makes the difference and that my friend is actually exactly the problem.
Because in doing so, you are likely describing the work through a point Z lens when your client is still sitting at point A. So here's some common examples, and these are real life ones from students. I have supported my favorite and I think one of the most universal ones. Right now is this idea of relational trauma.
So if you're someone who enjoys relational trauma, complex trauma, C-P-T-S-D, chances are your clients don't know that term yet. They might even be averse to the term trauma. All they're wondering about is why they keep ending up in unhealthy relationships or why they feel anxious and unseen in every close connection in their life.
Why they continue to bend over backwards and overextend themselves struggling to say no. They don't know that it's relational trauma, or maybe I've seen this. You help people with OCD, but your potential clients, they don't know that the intrusive thoughts or the repetitive behaviors are OCD, yet they don't think it's quote unquote that bad.
All they know is they feel stuck and obsessive and overwhelmed living in their own head.
Here's another one. Maybe you work with adult children of emotionally immature parents. Maybe that is really, really where you find that you shine. But your clients, they don't know that about their parents yet. They just know they feel guilt and confusion. Or a sense that they're too much when they set boundaries.
I recently dove into a project with a client who offers couples therapy, and she was marketing to things like attachment ruptures or value mismatches. Her couples aren't Googling that. They're saying things like, I don't feel close to my partner anymore, or He hurt me, and I don't know if we can get over it or we can't stop fighting.
Can you see what's happening here? So when these clients land on your website or your site today profile, or your social media, whatever it is, and they see this kind of elevated language or the deep clinical insight that you're trying to portray, they're not rejecting you. They just don't realize that you're talking to them.
They don't see themselves in it. And so what do they do? They move on.
Now let's look at why this happens. Why do so many smart, insightful, thoughtful clinicians default to point Z in their marketing? You wanna know why? It's because you're really, really good at what you do, because your brain is trained to spot patterns, to identify the root cause to get under the surface.
You meet with someone once and you probably already have a pretty clear idea of what's going on and that clarity, it's a strength. No doubt it's a strength in the room, but in your marketing, it can actually become a blind spot because when you know what's really going on, it's hard not to jump ahead.
You don't mean to talk over your client's head. But you end up speaking from your perspective, not theirs. And marketing is about joining your clients where they are.
But some of the resistance I get when I share this with my students is that that feels uncomfortable. It feels like they're simplifying. You might feel like, I don't wanna sound vague or I don't wanna sound watered down. Maybe you really, really enjoy deep work and you don't wanna lose the depth. Of that work by marketing to something so quote unquote surface level.
And you certainly don't wanna feel like you're dumbing down the quality of your work or the depth of your work for marketing's sake, right? But here's what I want you to remember here. Your marketing isn't a treatment plan. You're not having to conceptualize the entire client relationship here. Your marketing is the first sentence of the conversation.
It's what happens in intake, not what happens six or 12 months from now. So in order for someone to step into the work with you, trusting that you're the right fit for them, they have to feel like you see them right now, not just who they're gonna be three months in. So there is a way to keep your clinical depth, to keep your nuance, but we have to start with what your clients already know about themselves.
That is how we earn their trust, and that's how they ultimately take the first step.
So let's explore a little bit more about what clients really need to hear when they land on your website. What are they actually looking for? Because they're not. Evaluating your credentials closely. They may or may not be looking at your theoretical orientation, but most likely not, and that chances are, it's not the first thing, and they're also, as much as you might feel this way, not reading your copy with a red pen in their hand, you know, kind of judging every single word and circling what doesn't feel right.
They're doing something a lot more raw and a lot more vulnerable. They're asking themselves questions. Does this therapist get what I'm going through? Do I feel safe here? Do I think this person can actually help me? That's it. At point A, your client isn't ready for your modality. They're not trying to learn about trauma or emotionally immature parents or ERP.
They're trying to figure out why they feel the way they feel, and whether there's someone out there who gets it. That's why your copy and your marketing, especially early on in their experience with you, has to reflect your client's lived experience. Not just anxiety, but the particular flavor of anxiety they're sitting with.
You likely know that clients with relational trauma present a very particular way. That's the type of flavor I'm talking about, not just trauma. But the patterns that they're seeing show up in their relationships are in their inner voice. Not just relationship stressors, but the quiet fear that maybe they're the problem.
The deep in their bones, exhaustion from trying and seemingly failing to connect to their partner. Those are the types of things they're looking for because when someone reads something and they think, wait, that's me.
You've already done 80% of the heavy lifting. That is the moment they stop scrolling. That's the moment they look for. They schedule free consultation button on your website and click it. That's when that connection begins. It's about helping them stop and pause and see themselves in what you've displayed there.
Now, if you're realizing as we go through this conversation that you've been marketing too far ahead, I want you to know this doesn't mean we have to burn it all down. It doesn't mean you have to scrap your niche or start over. It's not that you're actually doing anything wrong, it just means we need to shift the entry point.
To your marketing. So here's the very first thing I want you to do. This is the exercise. I want you to leave this episode and complete. I want you to revisit your intake forms. I want you to go back to the clients you have loved working with.
You know which ones I'm talking about? The ones that if you could clone, you would the ones who made incredible progress, open up their intakes, pull up that paperwork, and then read what they wrote on that very first form. What were they struggling with then? How did they describe it? Then what language did they use?
Then. That is your point A. That is where your marketing should be focused. That is where it starts because you already know what point Z looks like, right? You live there, hopefully, but your clients are still trying to figure out what's even going on. So whenever you sit down to market your practice to write your website, whatever it is that you're doing, start there.
Talk about what it feels like before they understand the pattern, before they've realized their parents weren't what they perhaps always imagined before they know what kind of therapy they need. Let them see themselves in the very first sentence, because once they're in, and once you start to cultivate that connection, then you can lead them into the deeper work.
Right. Then you can cast a vision for what's possible. Then you can introduce the real root of what's going on because point Z, like I said, it still matters. Your clients still need to see the potential transformation they can experience as a result of working with you. They need to know that there's a way forward.
So it's not that we're only marketing and talking about today's problems. We want to cast vision about what's gonna happen further down the line. But here's the key. You cannot market to problems your clients don't know they have, or outcomes they don't know they want yet. Let me say that again. You cannot market to problems your clients don't know they have, or outcomes they don't know they want yet.
So you still need to speak to transformation, but you have to first start with recognition. With what your clients would see themselves in.
So if you're listening to this and your niche feels right, you know the work you love to do, but the inquiries still aren't, then this disconnect might be that missing piece. And it doesn't mean changing the kind of work you do. Not at all. It doesn't mean watering anything down, but it does mean that you need to meet your clients where they are, because before your clients can trust you with the breakthrough, they need to trust that you see them in their right now, in the moment they find themselves in today, as they decide if you're the therapist for them.
This shift from point Z to point A is hands down one of the most powerful mindset and strategy tweaks that you can make in your marketing. It is legitimately the difference between this therapist seems qualified and this therapist gets me. And in this market, you want to be the latter.
If you're interested in exploring this even more deeply, that's exactly what we do in my magnetic niche method mini course. But whether or not you dive in there, and I'll include the, the link in the show notes, I hope today gave you something very, very concrete to work with. Like I said, leave this episode and revisit those intake forms.
Look at your client's point a. And know that you can still do the deep and powerful work that you love, but your marketing has to start with what your client knows, not what you know, because that's how you're gonna build trust, and that's how you're gonna start bringing in those RightFit clients so you can lead more and more folks to the incredible outcomes at point Z.
Thanks for tuning in today. I'll see you in the next episode.
Resources & Links Mentioned:
Magnetic Niche Method: walkerstrategyco.com/mnm
The Walker Strategy Co website: walkerstrategyco.com
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About Marketing Therapy
Marketing Therapy is the podcast where therapists learn how to market their private practices without burnout, self-doubt, or sleazy tactics. Hosted by Anna Walker—marketing coach, strategist, and founder of Walker Strategy Co—each episode brings you clear, grounded advice to help you attract the right-fit, full-fee clients and grow a practice you feel proud of.
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